Sealing machine



Oct. 6 1925.

M. .1. WEST SEALING MACHINE Filed Nov. 30, 1923 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR ATTORNEY Oct. 6 1925- 9 2 a w a m m T 1 5 S N 1. a m in a W 0 WA 6 am Mr 3 WWW Mm.

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M. J. WEST SEALING MACHINE 7 KM afF a.

ATTORNEY Illlllllil! llllllllllllll l Oct. 6, 1925- M. J. WEST SEALING MACHINE Filed Nov. 30 1923 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 IIIHII llll Patented Oct. 6, 1925.

UNITED STATES (PATENT OFFICE.

MERLE J. WEST, MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR TO WEST MANUFACTURING (30., F MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION OF WISCONSIN.

SEALING MACHINE.

Application filed November 30, 1923. Serial No. 677,781.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MERLE J. Wnsr, a citizen of the United States of America, and resident of Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, have invented new and useful Improvements in Sealing Machines, of which the following is a description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which are apart of this specification.

The invention relates to a sealing machine for afiixing labels, stamps, stickers, etc., hereinafter called seals, on pamphlets, catalogs, circulars, folders, etc., hereinafter called blanks, and more particularly to the free edges of such blanks so as to seal them for safe transportation or transmission in the mails.

The object of the invention is to provide a machine in which a strip of paper or other suitable material, preferably so-called gummed paper tape, is automatically fed to a seal-forming mechanism by which seals are cut therefrom, the seal being thereafter moistened and carried uponnovel feeding mechanism into an afiixing position where it is folded over and pressed down upon the blank to be sealed and the sealed blank then conveyed away from themachine.

The invention further consists in the several features hereinafter set forth and more particularly defined by claims at the conclusion hereof. i

In the drawings'z'Fig. 1 is a plan View of the machine embodying the invention; Fig. 2 is a front elevation view of the machine, parts being'broken away and parts being shown in section; Fig. 3 is a view of the delivery end of the machine, parts being broken away and parts being shown in section; Fig. 4 is a sectional view through the machine taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1 and showing the seal-affixing mechanism ready for operation; Fig. 5 is a sectional view substantially similar to Fig. 4 and showing the seal-aflixing mechanism after it has folded over the seal on the blank; Fig. 6 is a section taken on the line 66 of Fig. 1; Fig. 7 is a section taken onthe line 77 of Fig. 1; Fig. 8 is a detail sectional view taken on the line 88 of Fig. 1; Fig. 9 is a detail sectional view taken on the line 99 of Fig. 1; Fig. 10 is a detail sectional view taken on the line 1O10 of Fig. 1; Fig. 11 is a detail sectional view taken on the line -1111 of Fig. 1; Fig. 12 is a detail sectional View taken on the line 12-12 of Fig. 1; Fig. 13 is a detail sectional view taken on the line 1313 of Fig. 1; Fig. 14 is a detail sectional view taken on the line 1414 of Fig. 1; Fig. 15 is a detail top and sectional View, the section being taken on the line 1515 of Fig. 2; Fig. 16 is a detail elevation View of the feeding pawl.

The working parts of the machine are mounted on a suitable base 17 and are preferably operated by an electric motor 18 whose drive pulley 19 is connected by a belt 20 to a pulley 21 on a transmission shaft '22 which carries a gear 23 meshing with a gear 24 on a transmission shaft 25, which shaft carries a bevel gear 26 meshing with a bevel gear 27 on a shaft 28 whereby the shaft 28 is continuously driven while the motor is running (Figs. 1, 3 and 4).

The main drive shaft29 for the working partsof the machine is driven by the shaft 28 through a jaw-clutch, one element 30 of the clutch being secured to the shaft 28 and the other element 31 being slidably but non-rotatably mounted on the shaft 29 and normally held out of engagement'with the element 30 by a spring 32 (Figs. 1, 3, 9,,and 4). For throwing in the clutch to enable the machine to go through one complete iv and adapted to engage one arm of a pivoted bell-crank lever 37 the arm ofsaid bellcrank lever being connected by a link 38 to a dog 39 (Figs. 1 and 3). The dog 39 is slidably mounted in a block 40 which is loosely suspended from a lever 41 by a slotted con nection with a bolt orstud 42. on the front end of said lever 41, said block being normally held in an upper position by means of a spring 43 connected at one end to the block and at-its other end toa clip 44 on i1! the stud 42, Fig. 9. The block 40 is recessed to form a housing for a ratchet wheel 46 which is adapted to be engaged by the dog 39 when the operator, by an upward swinging movement of the bar 33, causes the levers. 34 and 37 and the link 38 to move said dog inwardly. The dog 39 is normally held out of engagement with the wheel 46 by means of a spring 47 interposed between the block 34 and the end of the link 38.

With the motor running and the shaft 28 rotating, when the operator pulls up on the bar 33 the dog 39 moves into engagement with the ratchet wheel 46 and this produces a downward movement of the block 46 for a certain interval, by reason of the downward pressing action of the wheel upon the dog, and upon release of the bar 33 the dog 39 returns to an inoperative position.

The downward movement of the block 40 is used to throw in the clutch as said block swings the forward end of the lever 41, which is pivoted intermediate its ends on a pivot 48, downwardly causing an adjustable set-screw 49 to press upon a lever 50 carrying a roller 50 at one end operating on a cam surface 51 and by which said lever 50 is moved substantially lengthwise, and which movement is used to swing a clutch-shifting lever 52, pivotally connected to lever 50 and pivotally supported intermediate its ends, so as to cause rollers 53 on the lower forked end of said lever 52 to engage and move the clutch element 31 into engagement with its cooperative element 30 and thus cause the shaft 28 to rotate the shaft 29, Fig. 9.

The shaft 29 is rotated by the mechanism above described and is prevented from overrunning by a roller 54 on the rear end of the lever 41 which rides on a locking cam 55 on the shaft 29 and engages in a locking recess 56 in said cam after a single complete revolution of the shaft (Fig. 7 The downward movement of the block 40 causes the lever 41 to move out of locking engagement with the cam 55. The lever 41 may be braced at its roller-carrying end by means of a link 57 suitably pivot-ally connected to said end and to a fixed part of the machine (Figs. 1 and 9).

From the foregoing description it will be noted that while the shaft 28 runs continuously the shaft 29 is only put into opera tion by the operator lifting or swinging up the bar 33, and that said shaft 29 is only given a single turn for each operation of the bar 33.

A bracket 58 projects out from the base of th machine and sup-ports a cylindrical housing 59 having a spider-shaped bottom to provide an opening 60, and said bracket forms a pivot for a spool holder or support 61, said housing having a spider-shaped guard 62 mounted thereon, Fig. 2. The gummed paper strip 63, in the form of a roll on a spool 64, is reeled off from the spool and led through a guide-slot 59 in the housing, through a trough or channelshaped guide 65, a slot in the cutting mechanism. where the seal is punched therefrom and the waste portion of the strip is then led between feeding rollers 66 and 67 and out of the machine.

he roller 66 is given a step-by-step rotation in proper timed relation with the sealpunching mechanism by means of a pawl 68 engaging a ratchet wheel 69 secured to said roll (Figs. 2, 15 and 16). The pawl 68 is pivoted on a pin 70 on the free end of a pivoted lever 71 and the pin 70 is connected by a link 72 to one arm of a pivoted bellcrank lever 73, the other arm of said lever 7 3 being connected by a link 74 to a swinging feed-lever 7 5'which lever carries a roller 75' running on a cam 76 on the shaft 29 (Figs. 1, 11 and 15). A spring 77' normally holds the pawl 68 in operative position.

The ratchet wheel 69 is in the form of a gear meshing with a gear 78 secured to the roll 67 whereby both rolls are driven to feed the paper strip between them, and a brake member 79 is held by a. spring 79 against the roll 67 to prevent overrunning. The feed of the pawl is determined by an arc-shaped shield 80 adjustably secured to the frame of the machine by a clamping screw 81 passing through an arcuate slot 82.

)Vhile the action of the feeding rolls serves to unreel the paper from the spool and draw it through the trough past the punching mechanism, 1' find that'the feed thereof is facilitated by jogging and imparting a slight forward turning movement to the spool holder 61. This is done by a rubbertipped pivoted head 83 on a pusher or plunger 83 which is slidably mounted in a stationary guide 84, see Fig. 14, and is normally held in an inoperative position by a spring 85 and is moved to its work by a link connection 86 with a crank arm 87 on an oscillatory shaft 88, which shaft carries a tappet 89 engaging a cam 90 on the shaft 9 (Fig. 7).

The seal punching mechanism is preferably in the form of a punch, shown in detail in Fig. 6, and comprising a block 91 having a hardened steel tube 92 therein, both the block and tube being slotted to form a guide slot 93 for the paper strip and the inner part 92 of said tube cooperates with a cylindrical reciprocating plunger-punch 94 to cut circular seals from the strip, though it will be understood that the punch and its cooperating die may be of any suitable form to cut seals of any desired shape from the strip.

The punch 94 is held to the end of a punch-operating lever 95 by a spring 96, Fig. 1. The lever 95 is pivoted at 95 on a fixed part of the machine and is connected by a link 97 to the free end of a lever 98 pivoted at 99 and carrying a roller 100 engaging a cam 101 on the shaft 29, said cam controlling the operation of said lever and punch in proper synchronism with the other working parts of the machine, said lever and punch being operated by a strong spring 98 connected to the lever 98 and to the machine frame, Fig. 7. As soon as the seal is severed from the strip by the punch it is pushed out through the tube 92 by the punch onto the seal-feeding mechanism. The cam 101 permits of a quick action of the spring and hence the punching and feeding action of the punch is very rapid. The rapid movement of the punch causes the end of the punch to retain and control the punched-out seal during its movement so that it actually forms a carrier independent of the sides of the tube through which the seal moves.

The seal-feeding mechanism includes a rotary carrier 102 whose shaft is journalled on an upright 103 and given a step-- by-step rotation by a. ratchet wheel 104 on the carrier shaft operated upon by a pawl 105 held down by a spring 106 and pivoted to the lever,7 5 by which it receives its motion (Figs. 6 and 8). This carrier 102 is provided with a plurality of radially disposed cylindrical bores 106, the front ends 'of which have strips 107 extending diametrically thereacross and set into the carrier, each of said strips having a pin 108 or other suitable impaling member mounted at the center and projecting laterally therefrom. A pair of backing springs 109 are radial ly disposed in alined position over the front end of each bore 106. With this construction the plunger 94, which is provided with a bore 110 to receive the pin 108 as the front end of the punch moves over it, pushes the seal out through the tube 92 and impales it upon one of the pins 108 which is then alined with the central axis of thepunching die, and thereafter the punch, under the action of the cam 101, recedes and the carrier is moved through a partial turn to a position where the. gummed outwardlyfacing side of the seal 111 is moistened by an atomizing type moistening device.

The moistening device includes a casing 112 having a mixing chamber 113 therein into which compressed air from a pipe 114 and'water from a pipe 115 is introduced, the air blast blowing the water in a fine spray through a nozzle 116 controlled by a manually adjustable needle valve 117 and through a nozzle plate 118 into a discharge tube 119 directing the water spray against the seal 111 to moisten its gummed surface, Fig. 6. The pipe 115 communicates with a supply tank 120. g

A blast of air is delivered through the pipe 114 to the chamber 113 by an air pump 121 which is operated bv .the same lever 95 that moves the punch plunger 94. This air pump, shown in detail in Fig. 7, includes a pump cylinder 122, a piston 123 Working therein, an inlet 124 controlled by a springcheck inlet valve 125 and an outlet to the pipe 114. The piston rod 123 is connected to a yoke 126 which is connected at its front end to the lever 95 (Figs. 1 and 7).

The seal-'afiixing mechanism comprises means for successively releasing the seals 111 from the pins 108 and folding the seal over against the free edge 127 of the blank 128, and includes a pair of fingers 129 and 130, each pivotally connected, as at 131, to a slide bar 132 (Figs. 4 and 5).. The sealengaging surfaces 133 and. 134 of the fingers 129 and 130 taper slightly inwardly. and during the first part of the movement pass through the bore 106 on opposite sides of the member-107 and fold the seal over the blank while travelling on the rollers 135 and 136 and move forward until the roller 135 reaches arelief space 137 formed between the fingers, at which time pressure is put uponthefingers to move their front ends together so as to press them against the folded seal. 7

Pressure is put upon the fingers by rollers 138 and 139 mounted on plungers 140 and 141, respectively, which are urged against the blank by springs 142 and 143, respective ly, said plungers working in cylinders 144 and 145, the fingers 129 and 130 on their forwardmovement moving said plungers 140 and 141 by engagement with the rollers 138 and 139 and thereby compressing the springs 142 and'143 which react to exert pressure upon the fingers which in turn squeeze the seal and the edge of the blank between them to bind the seal to the blank.

After the seal has been pressed down around the blank the pressure on the fingers is relieved to prevent their tearing off the seal on their return stroke; they are spread apart and moved away from the sealed blank by means of awedge in the form of a pin 146 having a flattened finger-engaging portion 147 which engages the surfaces 148 and 149 of the fingers 129 and 130 when oscillated (Figs. '4, 5 and 10). The pin 146 is oscillated by means of a crank-arm 150 connected thereto carrying a roller 151 held down by a spring 152 against a cam 153 on the shaft 29.

The mechanism for actuating the slide bar 132 includes a bell-crank lever 1'54 pivoted at 155and having .an arm with a forked end 156 working on a roller 157 mounted on the bar within, a'slot 158. The other arm of lever 154 carries a roller 159-adapted to be engaged by a cam 160 on the shaft 29, said cam, when engaged by said roller, acting to impart a quick forward movement to the slide bar and the fingers carried thereby. The return movement of said bar is effected by the engagement of the same cam 160 with a roller 161 mounted on a pin 162 operatively connected by a link 163 with the lever 154 and to a lever 164 pivoted at 165 on the frame of the machine (Figs. 4, 5 and 9).

The return movement of the bar 132 is checked by a pair of toggle levers 166 and 167, pivotally connected together by a pin 168, the lever 166 being loosely pivotally connected by a pin 169 with the bar 132, the lever 167 being pivotally connected to a pin 170 on the frame working in a guide slot 171 on said bar, and the toggle levers being normally urged out of alined position by a spring 172 connected thereto and to the frame of the machine.

As the carrier 102 must, after each feeding movement, be held so as to accurately position the bores 106 relative to the punching mechanism, the moistening mechanism and the seal-affixing mechanism, means are provided for locking the carrier in a position of rest after each feeding movement. This means includes a hook-shaped locking bar 173 backed by a spring 17 3"mounted for limited sliding movement in a cylinder guide 174 by a pin and slot connection 175, 176 therewith, which cylinder forms one arm of a lever pinned to shaft 177 which is journalled in a bearing member 178 and having its other arm provided with a pin 179 held in engagement with a cam surface 180 by a coiled spring 181 shown in Fig. 1. This cam, at the proper time, serves to swing the bar 173 up against the carrier and bring its hooked end into engagement with any one of the slots 182 formed in the back thereof adjacent its periphery, an inclined relief slot 183 communicating with each of the slots 182 so as to facilitate the locking engagement of said bar 173 with the carrier.

' The blanks are successively fed into the machine by the operator movingthem to seal-affixing position upon a slotted table 184 and while each blank is being operated upon it is clamped to the table by a presserbar 185 which is slidably mounted in a guide 186,'is normally held in inoperative position by a spring 187 and is moved downwardly against the blank by an arm 188 on an oscillatory shaft 189 which has a crank arm 190 connected by a link 191 to a lever 192 pivoted at 192 and acted upon by a cam 193 on the shaft 29 (Figs. 4, 5, 8 and 12). As the fingers 129 and 130 are withdrawn the bar 185 is released by the spring 187 and the blank now sealed is ready to be removed from the machine.

For removing the sealed blank from the machine, I provide a pair of rollers 194 and 195 cooperating with a conveyor belt 196. The rollers 194 and 195 are mounted on a shaft journalled in a bearing 197 on the end of rod 198 slidably mounted in a guide 199 and normally urged downwardly by spring 200 (Figs. 4 and 5).

The belt 196 runs on pulleys 201 and 202. The pulley 201 is journalled in a swinging frame 203 pivoted at 204 which is moved by a lever 205 engaging at one end with the frame, pivoted at 206 and engaged at its other end by a free end of a lever 207, pivoted at 208 and carrying a pin projection 209 intermediate its ends which is held by the weight of the conveyor frame against a cam 210, which cam has the cam surface 180 also formed thereon, see Figs. 4 to 9, inclusive. WVith this construction, directly after the blank has been sealed the cam 210 swings the front end of the lever 205 upwardly thereby raising the front end of the conveyor frame 203. The raising of the front end of the conveyor removes the finished blank from the feed-table and brings it between the conveyor belt 196 and the rollers 194 and 195 whereupon thebelt 196 proceeds to carry the finished blank along with it and delivers it to stacking mechanism, not shown.

The pulley 202 is mounted on the shaft 211 which is continuously driven by the motor through a driving connection with the shaft 22, comprising a pulley 212 on the shaft .22, a pulley 213 on the shaft 211 iind a crossed belt 214 running on said puleys.

To keep a check on the work of the machine and the number of finished blanks, a counting mechanism 215 of any suitable construction hasits operating shaft 216 connected by a crank 217 with one end of a spring. 218, the other end of the spring being connected to a moving part of the machine, as to the lever 154 (Figs. 1 and 5).

With the strip 63 passed through the slot 93 and between the rollers 66 and 67 so as to establish the sealing-strip feed and a blank pushed into seal-affixing position, the operator swings the bar 26 upwardly, starting the machine. A seal 111, which has been punched from the strip by a previous operation of the machine and moved down past the moistening device to a seal-affixing position, .as shown in Fig. 4, is then moved over the free edge 127 of the blank 128 by the fingers 129 and 130, which engage the springs 129 as said fingers emerge from the bore 106, folded over upon and pressed against the blank by said fingers through the mechanism previously described and then the fingers are released and the sealed blank carried out of the. machine, the successive operations of the machine operating to form the seal, moisten it, affix it to the blank and deliver it from the machine in a rapid and expedient manner.

I desire it to be understood that this invention is not to be limited to any particular and specific arrangement of parts or combination of parts except in so far as such limitations are specified in the claims or made necessary by the prior art.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a sealing machine, the combination with a punch for cutting a seal from a sealing strip fed thereto, of seal-afiixing mechanism, and means including a movable carrier and a pin mounted thereon upon which the seal is impaled by the punch and upon which the seal is carried to the seal-affixing mechanism.

2. In a sealing machine, the combination of a feeder upon which the seal is carried, seal-affixing mechanism including finger feeding means, a pair of fingers actuated thereby to remove the seal from the feeder and bend it OVer the blank to be sealed, and means for putting pressure upon said fingers to press the sealed portion of the blank between them.

3. In a sealing machine, the combination of mechanism for punching the seal from a sealing strip, means for conveying the seal to a seal-affixing position including a member upon which the seal is impaled by the punching mechanism, and seal-aflixing mechanism including finger feeding means and a pair of fingers actuated thereby to disengage the impaled seal from said member and bend it over the blank to be sealed, and means for pressing the fingers against the sealed portion of the blank;

at. In a sealin machine the combination of a feeder upon which the seal is carried, seal-afiixing mechanism including fingeropera-ting means and a pair of fingers actuated by said means to remove the seal from the feeder, bend it over the blank to be sealed and press it into Sealing engagement with said blank.

5. In a sealing machine, the combination, with a holder for a spool of sealing tape, of seal-punching mechanism, and means for feeding the tape from the spool to said punching mechanism including a pair of feed rollers engaging the punched tape, and a mechanism for jogging and imparting a feeding movement to said holder.

6. In a sealing machine, the combination with a holder for a spool of sealing tape, of seal-punching mechanism, means for feed ing the tape from the spool to said punching mechanism including a pair of feed rollers engaging the punched tape and a mechanism for jogging and imparting a feeding movement to said holder, and a guide trough for the tape between said holder and said punching mechanism.

7. In a sealing machine, the combination with seal-punching mechanism, a moistening device and seal-afiixing mechanism, of a rotary carrier receiving the seal from the punching mechanism and conveying it past said moistening device to said seal-affixing mechanism.

8. In a sealing machine, the combination with seal-forming mechanism including a punch, of a rotary carrier provided with a plurality of impaling members upon which the seals from the seal-forming mechanism are successively impaled by said punch, sealaflixing mechanism successively removing the seals from said carrier and applying them to the blanks, and means for imparting a step-by-step rotation to the carrier.

9. In a sealing machine, the combination with seal-forming mechanism including a punch, of a rotary carrier provided with a' plurality of impaling members upon which the 'gummed seals from the seal-forming mechanism are successively impaled by the punch, seal moistening means, means for intermittently imparting a step-by-step rotation to the carrier, and means for holding the carrier stationary between feeding steps.

10. In a sealing machine, the combination of a rotary carrier provided with a plurality'of impaling members upon which the seals are successively impaled, of seal-aflixing mechanism successively removing the seals from the carrier and applying them to the blank.

11. In a sealing machine, the combination of a rotary carrier provided with apertures and a plurality of impaling members projecting from the apertures and upon which the seals are successively impaled, of sealafiixing mechanism including fingers successively movable through said apertures to remove the seal from the impaling member and apply it to the blank. 12. In a sealing machine, the combination of a feederrupon. which the seal is carried, seal-affixing mechanism including a pair of pivoted fingers. and a reciprocating member upon which the fingers are mounted, said fingers removing the seal from the feeder and bending it over the blank to be sealed, and presser members engaging the fingers to press the seal into sealing engagement with said blank. I

13. In a'sealing machine, the combination of a. feeder upon which the seal is carried, seal-afiixing mechanism including a pair of pivoted fingers, a reciprocating member upon which the fingers are mounted. said fingers removing the seal from the feeder and bending it over the blank to be sealed, presser members engaging the fingers to press the seal into sealing engagement with said blank, and means for opening the fingers to release them from the sealed blank.

14. In a sealing machine, the combination of seal-punching mechanism including a punch'and a lever for operating the punch, a seal-moistening device, and an air pump operated by said lever delivering a blast of air to said moistening device.

In a sealing machine, the Combination wth a holder for a spool of sealing tape, of seal-punching mechanism, means engaging the punched tape to feed the tape through said punching mechanism, a seal-moistening device, seal-aiiixing mechanism, a rotary carrier provided with impaling members upon which the seals are successively impaled by the punch and upon which the seals are carried past said moistening'device to the seal aflixing mechanism.

16. In a. sealing machine, the combination with a blank-supporting table, of seal-forming mechanism, a feeder, seal-aiiixing mechanism including finger-operating means and a pair of fingers actuated by said means to remove the seal from the feeder, bend it over the blank to be sealed and press it into sealing engagement with said blank, and means for holding the blank upon the table while the seal is being applied thereto.

17. In a sealing machine, the combination with a blank-supporting table, of seal-forming mechanism, a feeder, seal-aiiixing mechanism including finger-operating means and a pair of fingers actuated by said means to remove the seal from the feeder, bend it over the blank to be sealed and press it into sealing engagement with said blank, means for holding the blank upon the table while the seal is being applied thereto, and a delivery conveyor having a part movable above the table to receive the sealed blank.

18. In a sealing machine, the combination, with a seal support, of seal-afiixing mechanism including finger-operating means and a pair of fingers actuated by said means to remove the seal from said support, bend it over the blank to be sealed and press it into sealing engagement with said blank.

19; In a sealing machine,the combination, with a seal support, a. sealsaflixing mechanism including a pair of pivoted 'fingers, a reciprocating member upon which the fingers are mounted, said fingersremoving the seal from said support and bending it over the blank to be sealed, yieldable presser members automatically engageable with said fingers and exerting pressure thereon to press the seal into sealing engagement with said blank. I

20. In a sealing machine, the combination, with a seal support, of seal-afi ixing mechanism including a pair of pivoted fingers, a reciprocatingmember upon which the 'fingers are mounted, said fingers removing the seal from said support and bending it over the blank to be sealed, yieldable presser members automatically engageable with said fin ers near the end of their seal-applying movement, and wedging means between the fingers and operating thereon to release the fingers from the scaled "blank.

21. In a sealing machine, the combination with a punch tor cutting a seal from a gummed sealing strip fed thereto, of a sealmoistening device, seal-affixing mechanism, and a rotary carrier provided with a plurality of impaling members upon which seals are successively impaled by the punch, said carrier feeding the seals by a step-bystep rotation to the moistening device and then to the affixing mechanism, and means for holding the carrier stationary between its feeding movements.

22. In a sealing machine, the combination, with a seal support, of seal-affixing mechanism including a pair of pivoted fingers, a reciprocating member upon which the fingers are mounted, said fingers removing the seal and bending it over the blank to be sealed, yieldable presser members automatically engageable with said fingers near the end of their sealapplying movement, and an oscillatory member working between the fingers for releasing them from the blank.

23. In a sealing machine, the combinationof a rotary carrier provided with a plurality of apertures, of an impaling member mounted at each aperture, seal-backing members adjacent each impaling member, means for ii'nparting a step-by-step rotation to said carrier, and seal-aflixing mechanism including fingers successively movable through said. apertures to remove the seal from the impaling member and apply it to the blank.

24. In a sealing machine, the combination of a rotary carrier provided with a plurality of apertures, of an impaling member mounted at each aperture, spring seal-backing members adjacent each impaling member, means for imparting a. step-by-step rotation to said carrier, and seal-affixing mechanism including fingers successively movable through said apertures to remove the seal from the impaling member and apply it to the blank.

25. In a sealing machine, the combination with a blank-supporting table, of a holder for a spool of sealing tape, seal-punching mechanism, means engaging the punched out end of the tape to feed the tape through said punching mechanism, a seal-moistening device, a rotary carrier receiving the seal from the punching mechanism and conveying it past said moistening device to the seal-affixing mechanism, seal-aflixing mechanism removing the seal from said carrier and applying it to the blank on said table, and delivery mechanism removing the sealed blank from said table and conveying it out of the machine.

26. In a sealing machine, the combination with a blank-supporting table, of a holder for a spool of sealing tape, seal-punching mechanism, means for engaging the punched-out end of the tape to feed the tape through said punching mechanism, a seal-moistening device, a rotary carrier provided With spaced pins upon Which the seals are successively impaled by the punching mechanism and carried past said moistening device, means for imparting a step-by-step rotation to the carrier, means for holding the carrier stationary between feeding steps, seal-affixing mechanism to Which the seals are successively conveyed by the carrier and by which the seals are removed from the carrier and applied to the blank, means for holding the blank against the table during the sealing operation, and a delivery conveyor having a part movable above the table to receive the sealed blank.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

MERLE J. WEST. 

